The Janitor
by Hollyflash
Summary: Edward Scrufarian, janitor at Casper High, didn't expect to enter the Janitor's Closet to the sight of his town's hero attempting to bandage himself up.


I blame Tumblr and Spiral for this.

I posted some of my headcanons about Casper High's janitor on Tumblr, and they went crazy. One of my posts currently has like 93 notes and counting. People said they wanted this so I'm just going to post it on here as well.

So, we're going to pretend Phantom Planet doesn't exist, okay? Okay.

* * *

The Janitor

"Uh..."

Edward Scrufarian, janitor at Casper High for nearly twenty years, wasn't sure what to say when he walked into a janitor's closet to the sight of Amity Park's hero with an open first aid kit beside him, top half of his jumpsuit down revealing scar upon scar, as he attempted to wrap bandages around what appeared to be a long cut bleeding green down the length of the right side of his torso. He was only using his left arm, and his right was just hanging. From what Edward could see, it appeared dislocated.

The broom Edward had been holding on to fell to floor from his hand, and he stared at the young ghost in front of him who just kept opening his mouth to speak and closing it after getting nothing more out than an "Uh," "Um," or "Er," and staring at him with wide eyes.

Edward stared back, unsure of what to do. It wasn't like being in the presence was entirely comfortable for him, after all, who in their sane mind wasn't scared of ghosts? Especially one like Phantom, who regardless of his current hero status, had kidnapped the mayor, robbed several jewelry stores with the help of some others ghosts, apparently cut off the face of young Daniel Fenton (though Edward didn't have a clue how that would work without killing the boy), and constantly created messes at the school that it almost always fell on him to clean up.

Then again, Edward had always tried not to get caught up in everything the town had to do with ghosts; he'd probably go crazy otherwise. Instead he focused on the human problem of his school; mostly ones centering on young Daniel Fenton.

To most of the other staff, Daniel was that 'strange problem child' of the Fenton family, in contrast to his golden girl of a sister. He had proven himself to be a bright student, when he actually did work. Most of the time he was arriving late to classes, sleeping through them, or skipping them.

Though Edward couldn't be sure, he assumed it had something to do with how badly Daniel was bullied. He often saw the boy being shoved into lockers, but by the time he'd come around to help him out, the lockers would be empty with no sign of being opened. He assumed the boy's friends helped them out- though Edward wasn't sure of their names, he had realized long ago how important they were to Daniel.

That of course, would be a stark contrast to Phantom. The ghost was pretty much a loner; after all, he fought his own kind.

In fact, there were many opposites between the two. Black hair on Daniel, white hair on Phantom. While Daniel's eyes were a cool blue, Phantom's were glowing green.

...Now that Edward thought about it, Phantom's eyes currently didn't seem to be glowing as brightly...

There were other opposites besides appearance; mainly Phantom was a hero and Daniel... Well, as much as the boy had a hero's spirit, wasn't. Phantom was loved by the public, if the public didn't include the Fentons, and with Daniel it was all but reversed. Daniel was shy, Phantom was cocky and confident. Daniel was beat up by his peers, Phantom beat up ghosts.

Daniel was alive, Phantom wasn't.

"Would you like some help?"

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, and Edward watched as Phantom froze for a few moments before stammering out, "W-what?"

Edward repeated himself, "Would you like some help?" He motioned to the ghost, "I've taken first aid before, and you look like you're having trouble..."

"Oh," Phantom blinked, and then looked down at the cut. "Sure...?"

Kneeling beside the ghost, Edward began to tightly wrap the roll of bandages around him.

_Why on earth did I suggest this? _He thought, and then mentally smacked himself. _That's a ridiculous thought. What was I supposed to do, turn around and walk away? No, never. Besides, even as a ghost, he's still a teenage boy who's hurt. Plain and simple. I'm not going to let him just sit there and struggle with bandaging himself up._

He refused to even consider the fact that despite all the differences between Daniel and Phantom, the ghost somehow reminded him of the boy who he pitied.

A _pop_ pulled Edward from his thoughts as Phantom let out a slight gasp of pain, and he looked away from the cut to see Phantom clenching his teeth as he rubbed his shoulder, which no longer appeared dislocated.

Trying to push the thought of what the ghost had just done, and the memory of being told during a staff meeting with Jack and Maddie Fenton that ghosts didn't have bone structures, Edward bit his lip. "If you... Don't mind me asking... How did you get these injuries?"

"Well, uh... Ghost fighting."

Edward stopped wrapping the bandages for a moment to raise an eyebrow at the ghost, "That's what I assumed. But, how exactly?" The memory of watching Phantom be thrown into buildings by some robotic ghost on the news a few nights ago suddenly occurred to him, "Did you land on it wrong way?"

Phantom scoffed, "If being thrown into a pile of construction equipment thanks to a fist of music is landing on it wrong, than yes, I did." He was quiet for a moment before muttering, "Stupid Ember."

"Ah," Edward replied, finishing wrapping up the cut and wondering what the ghost could mean by 'stupid ember'. "Well, you're all bandaged up... I'd suggest resting, but somehow I don't think you will."

"It'll be okay, I uh, have quicker healing than humans." Phantom replied while giving him an odd look before attempting to put the top half of his jumpsuit back on. "Well, thanks... Uh, why were you in here? Was there something you needed?"

"Ah, yes, I'd nearly forgotten." He stood up, moving around some items to reveal a box. "Here it is. You should probably head off now; some of the staff isn't exactly tolerant of ghosts. Well, less so than I am, anyway."

"Uh, right," Phantom replied, and Edward looked back just in time to see the ghost pull on his white gloves. "Uh, thanks... Sorry, I don't know your name."

Edward smiled, "Most people don't. It's Edward, Edward Scrufarian, school janitor."

Phantom nodded, "Okay, I'll remember that. Thanks, Mr. Scrufarian." He turned a strange cool blue and flew upwards through the roof, and Edward shook his head. That wasn't at all what he had expected when he had entered the closet to put away the broom he'd been using.

After moving the broom from the ground to a spot where it could hang from the wall, Edward tucked the box under his arm. He stepped out of the closet and locked the door behind him just as Daniel Fenton stepped out of the Men's Room a little down the hall.

A smile appeared on Edward's face and he called out, "Daniel! Could you come her for a moment?"

The student very visibly tensed before turning towards him and pointing a finger towards himself.

"Yes, you!" Edward called again, and Daniel slowly made his way over, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Y-yes?" He asked, the fact that he was nervous evident, and Edward smiled as he held out the box.

"Here, Daniel, this is for you."

Using mostly his left arm, Daniel took the box. "Uh, thanks? What is it?"

Edward placed a hand on the boy's left shoulder, "I've noticed that most days you often either buy lunch or don't have one. So I've put this together. It's a variety of snack foods, which though they won't replace a real lunch, will do well to hold you over for a bit. It should last you a month or so."

Daniel blinked, before attempting to give the box back. "I can't accept this, I-"

Edward removed his hand from the boy's shoulder, "Too bad, Daniel. You shouldn't go without eating- it isn't healthy, especially for a growing boy. Just take the box and go with it. Be happy I haven't decided to call up your parents about this; I've seen your mother, and I'm sure she'd just love to know that her son isn't eating lunch at least once a week."

Daniel looked down at the box and then back up at Edward before replying with, "Thank you, Mr. Scrufarian."

He hurried off to his next class, leaving Edward smiling where he stood.

_I wonder when he took the time to learn my name?_

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Okay Danny," Sam muttered as she joined both of her best friends after school had ended and the trio started towards Danny's house, "Care to tell us why you showed up with a random box during fourth period?"

"Yeah dude," Tucker egged him on, and Danny used his left hand to rub the back of his neck. "And why you weren't in class until then? Also, where's the box now?"

Danny let out a slight nervous laugh, "I was late because I was fighting Ember and it didn't go to well, I ended up being thrown into a bunch of construction equipment."

Sam gasped and exchanged a glance with Tucker before the two turned back to Danny, "How badly were you hurt?"

Danny shrugged one shoulder, "I was thrown at some sheet metal and landed on what was going to be a window. I'm actually better than I should be, and I've been healing since then."

"That doesn't answer her question, dude." Tucker replied, placing a hand on his friend's right shoulder and pulling him towards him. "How badly were you-"

"Shoulder, shoulder!" Danny hissed in pain, and Tucker removed his hand. Danny lifted a hand and started to rub it before replying with, "Dislocated my right shoulder, cut on my right side, okay?!"

It took Tucker a moment before he realized that he had just placed his hand on Danny's right shoulder. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Danny replied, sighing. "I'm fine."

"No, you aren't." Sam grabbed his left shoulder and pushed him towards the ground. "Sit. We're going to make sure you didn't fail too badly at bandaging yourself up."

"Sam," Danny groaned, but did as she said. Both Tucker and Sam moved over to his right side, Tucker lifting up part of Danny's shirt to reveal the bandages he still had wrapped around his midsection which were faintly stained a mixture of brownish-red and green. Sam rolled up t-shirt's sleeve, revealing Danny's bruised shoulder.

"Hey, who wrapped these bandages?" Tucker asked, raising an eyebrow. "They're a lot better than you normally do."

"...Mr. Scrufarian."

At Danny's reply, both Sam and Tucker stared at him for a moment before asking, "Who?"

"The janitor," Danny said. Sam and Tucker nodded before going back to inspecting their friend's injuries. "He walked in on me attempting to bandage myself up as Phantom in the Janitor's closet, and offered to help. After I left and came out of a bathroom as Danny Fenton, he called me over and gave me the box, which is apparently filled with food. I haven't checked what's really in it yet and just threw it in my locker."

"That'll be useful," Sam spoke up, "Now you'll have something to eat on the days when you don't have anything to eat because of ghosts or it attacking you or something."

"Guys, you're missing the bigger problem!" Danny protested, "He gave me the food, as Fenton, after helping to patch me up, as Phantom."

"Dude," Tucker replied, "He doesn't know."

"He might!"

"I doubt it."

"I don't! I think he knows and is trying to pull a Jazz!"

"Wow," Sam muttered, "When did you get so paranoid?"

"Paranoid?" Danny rolled his eyes, "I'm not paranoid. I'm just pretty sure he knows my secret. And watch, somehow we're going to figure out that just like Jazz he's known all along."

* * *

The funny thing is the fact that the janitor doesn't know and that it was all just a coincidence.

Thoughts?


End file.
